Saturday, August 3rd, 2024

We met, as usual, on the forecourt of a petrol station. This one in Jesenice, which is just south of the main Prague outer-circle (well, circle one fine day !) ring-road.

We gathered at 09:00, for an 09:30 departure. This was quite early, for a club ride, but the organiser, Michal, had planned quite a day for us – some 350 kilometres – with a selection of “breaks”. Michal said that on his “test” ride, over the proposed route, he had not returned until after 19:00 in the evening. This immediately caused a slight concern with Lucie and I, not because of the distance, but because we were expecting guests to our apartment at 20:00 …. Still, we know the countryside and we could, if things got tight, always break off and come home.

For an August morning, it was quite dull and blustery – and not very warm. We already had our waterproofs in the panniers as Lucie’s weather Apps indicated more than a possibility of rain at a few places. It was, of course, “holiday time” but the weather might have been the reason why such an attractive proposed ride was a little bit poorly attended. Quite a few of what Lucie and I term “the usual suspects” were missing and there was around a dozen bikes in total.

We set off, on what was a well thought out route.

Initially, we headed towards the dam at Orlík, one of a series of nine such barrages that span the Vltava river between the lake at Lipno and Prague. A tour of the dam power station had been arranged for us. We were both keen to see the inside of what we had, many times, viewed from the outside, although Lucie HAD been inside before, when she was very young.

By Michal’s design, but also by odd coincidence, our route took us past the turning to Lešany (where the club had ridden to on the BfV ride only a few weeks before) and also through the village of Všetice, where Lucie and I were due to be at a music festival one week later.

As I have said many times, when you are riding in a column, it is hard to remember the exact route, but Lucie was recording it.

Our first stop was in the village of Křečovice-Neveklov. Not being a Czech, I perhaps did not understand the significance of where we were, but we all posed for a picture in the gateway of JZD Mír Neveklov, středisko Křečovice (257 56 Křečovice-Neveklov), which apparently featured in the well known (to Czechs) film, “Vesničko má středisková” (the village has a centre). In truth, all the others were more excited than I was….

Moving on, we made a comparatively short ride through the countryside which involved crossing the Vltava river so that we could approach the Orlík dam on its western side. The final approach was up a poorly surfaced track, but we gained the car park without difficulty or mishap.

The Orlická přehrada (Orlík Dam) (262 56 Orlík nad Vltavou-Krásná Hora nad Vltavou), is an impressive structure over seventy metres high.

A tour had been arranged for us and was given by a knowledgeable former employee. We were able to enter the security compound and park there.

We were all given white hard hats, but Lucie charmed the guide and hers was swapped for a rather diverting orange one.

I have to say the guide knew his stuff. The mass of facts was quite detailed and, had it not been for Lucie’s translation skills, I would have been more than a bit lost.

During the flooding of 2002, the inside of the dam was totally inundated. We were shown the central control panel and, right next to it, a poster still has damage from the water.

The size and complexity of the equipment inside the power station is a bit mind blowing. The four (colour coded) turbines are huge and, from their tops, shafts descend many metres into the depths of the dam’s concrete to where the blades are located, far below. Suffice it to say, the dam is a wonder of human skill and technology.

It was quite a climb back up to the top !

At one point it was (humorously) pointed out that some of the infra-structure has survived since the days of the communist regime. One piece still bears a plate saying it was manufactured in the “V.I. Lenin Works” in Plzeň !

Then it was back out into the fresh air ! An interesting experience !

Off we went again and travelled through yet more lovely south Bohemian countryside the sixty or so kilometres to the town of Písek.

On our way, the countryside was interspersed with two more crossings of the Vltava but, thanks to the dam, it was more of a lake than a river.

Michal had arranged for us all to eat lunch at the Kozlovna u Plechandy (Svatotrojická 164, 397 01 Písek 1). The Kozlovna chain gives good value and service and this branch, situated very close to Písek’s ancient stone bridge, was no exception. We all enjoyed a pleasant lunch and trays of alcohol free beer were drunk.

The annual sand sculpture festival was in progress and the carvings were only a few metres away from the restaurant along the river bank. There are always five sculptures, so that the word PÍSEK can be spelled out on the reverse side of them and be visible from the other bank. The theme for the 2024 carvings was transportation on the Vltava (Písek is, oddly, on the Otava river) and the skill of those who had formed the sand into contoured pictures was, as always, something rather special.

Slightly lethargically, we moved on again. The plan was now to go somewhere for an ice cream, take a ride through the Šumava mountains and then to go to a castle for cakes. Lucie and I were still a bit worried about how long all this was taking, but we were still only a couple of hours from home in the proverbial “worst case scenario”.

We left Písek in the direction of Šumava and wended our way through still yet more glorious countryside.

The plan was to make until we came to our next stop at Jahody Bavorov (Strawberries Bavorov) (Vodňanská, 387 73 Bavorov). This was the centre of a strawberry growing area and we were informed that the strawberry ice-cream on offer was the best that can possibly be got. Naturally, Lucie and I chose the other option, “Bounty”, which really did, somehow taste like its coconut flavoured candy equivalent. We noted that, unlike in Croatia, “Smurf” was not an option.

At that moment, the heavens opened and they opened in a very big way indeed. The volume of falling water was so huge that it flooded the terrace and came in through the doors. The unfortunate waitress was obliged to mop quite a quantity off of the floor. The fall was so heavy it was impossible to see across the road, which was probably just as well as I had left my helmet hanging on the handlebar of the Softail ….. with my gloves inside it….

Only a crazy person would have gone anywhere at that moment, a point proved by two other bikers, one on a Honda and one on a Suzuki, who put on their helmets and rode away. Us, more sensible, Harley people, waited out the deluge, which cost us at least another half an hour.

When the rain stopped and the time came to leave, one of our number called it a day. Lucie and I were considering following suit when we learned from Michal that, because of all the delays, the longer ride through Šumava was abandoned and we would be moving straight to coffee and cakes at Kratochvíle castle. That was only a shortish ride of about fifteen kilometres. I think that if someone takes the trouble to work all this stuff out, you sort of owe it to them to try and make the best of it. So although our time was running out, we decided that we would, at least, go to the castle with the group.

I jammed on my wet helmet and damp gloves and we set off again, through the little town of Bavorov and then along a twisty country road, made a bit treacherous by the light drizzle and rather dubious surfacing in places.

We soon came to the Státní zámek Kratochvíle (Kratochvíle state chateau) (Petrův Dvůr 9, 384 11 Netolice) and, for the second time in a day, made our final approach up an un-metalled track.

We parked the Harleys in a long, gleaming, line (a bit of rain always helps that, at least) and made our way to the castle’s cafe where most of our number availed themselves of coffee and cakes, including 50% of me and Lucie.

The castle was not, due to the overcast conditions, looking at its best, but it is a grand and elegant place. Although it is, essentially, a stately home as opposed to having any martial purpose, it does have a wide moat. It would probably be a pleasant place to spend some time in nicer weather.

But, that was it for us. It was already after 17:30 and we simply had to be home before 20:00. We had no choice but to bid the guys and gals farewell and, as they say, high-tail it out of there.

We found our way to Vodňany, about twenty-five kilometres away and from there to the Route 20 (E49) which took us back to Pisek and then, a few kilometres further on morphed into good old Route 4 which is still undergoing a lot of work to make it a proper “D” styled motorway. Even in the few short weeks since we returned from Croatia, more new stretches of “motorway” have opened, but there is still a lot to do. We made one, very short, break for coffee and a cigarette and rolled up outside of our house in Prague with less than ten minutes to spare.

A good, if slightly tiring day, in which we had covered 369 kilometres.